


The Goddess of Truth

by RosieIce



Series: The Gods Are Done Waiting [2]
Category: House M.D.
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Child Death, Deceit, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sad Ending, the truth will always come out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieIce/pseuds/RosieIce
Summary: What if Aletheia, goddess of truth, decided to hide among mortals and came across Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital? Let’s see what happens when she catches people in the act of deceit.Warning: Those who are punished for lying won’t have happy endings. Please read the tags.
Series: The Gods Are Done Waiting [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642324
Kudos: 1





	1. Deserve to Know

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters.
> 
> Warning: most chapters, if not all, will have a sad ending for someone. 
> 
> Note:  
> I started watching House a week ago. I got so fed up with those who got away with deceit, whether the intentions were good or bad. The best way for me to get my aggression out is thru writing. Also, I am going thru extreme stress due to personal reasons. Writing my thoughts on what should happen to those who lie has helped so much.
> 
> I lost the source I use to watch House, so the dialogue won’t be 100% accurate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the episode “Need to Know” (S2E11). The patient’s opinion of Foreman at the end is my personal opinion. I do NOT like that guy one bit.

Dr. Foreman told the patient, Margo Dalton, that the tumor was benign. It turned out that she was on birth control even though she and her second husband, Ted, were trying for a baby. Unfortunately for her health, the birth control interfered with her Ritalin and fertility treatments. 

“If you keep doing this“ Foreman said, “it's gonna kill your marriage and kill you.“

“You don't know. In a few years, we'll give up. Stop trying to get pregnant. We'll hug, cry. Eventually Ted will stop thinking about it, and he'll appreciate Stella even more. And we'll live happily together for the next 50 years.”

The doctor didn’t know what to say. He got up and left as the nurse stepped in to do whatever it is she is supposed to do.

Margo was about to take a nap, a smug expression on her face, until she heard a beautiful voice whisper: “You deceived someone.”

She opened her opens and caught the nurse glaring at her. 

“Yeah, so what if I did? It doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“I don’t respect those who lie for their personal benefit at the cost of others.”

“What are you gonna do about it, hmm? You are not allowed to tell anyone without my permission, _which I would never give_.”

The nurse stopped her measurements and took a step away from Mrs. Dalton. The patient took a moment to really look at the other woman. She had olive skin, wavy chestnut brown hair, and chocolate-colored eyes. Overall, she had a natural beauty that could be envied by many girls. Her name-tag revealed her name to be Alicia.

“Hypothetically,” the nurse said, “if you _had_ to choose someone to tell the truth, who would you choose?” 

“Nobody.”

“ _Please, humor me._ ” Something in Alicia’s voice urged Margo to really consider her answer. “...My daughter. Stella. My husband won’t believe everything she says.”

“I see,” said the beautiful woman as she nodded knowingly. “Let me ask another hypothetical question: would you tell your husband the truth about your wishes regarding more children if you suffer no consequences or would you risk your husband finding out himself and suffer the consequences?”

“I will. Never. Tell. Him. Consequences be damned.” She gave a stern nod with her statement. 

“Very well.” With that, the nurse left the room.

* * *

Stella and her stepfather returned home. Aletheia, invisible to them, whispered a suggestion to the little girl. The little girl didn’t think twice about walking to her mother’s bedside table and pulling out a pill bottle hidden deep in a drawer. She had no reason to know it would be there, yet somehow, she knew. 

The daughter did wonder what it was and decided to ask her father. He was curious about another set of unexpected pills, but his curiosity instantly dissolved into disbelief when he read the label.

Birth control pills, prescribed not too long ago, with his wife’s name on it. Ted Dalton was smart enough to connect the dots. 

* * *

“No. Those are an old prescription.”

“They were prescribed when we were still trying! WHY ARE YOU LYING?!”

“I-“

“Stop,” came a familiar voice.

Her husband froze in time. As did everything else. Only Margo moved. She looked around for the voice and saw ‘Alicia’. Except she was dressed in some kind of robe instead of scrubs.

“You have deceived your husband. The truth revealed itself. Own your truth, Margo Dalton.” 

“You told him, didn’t you? Oh, I am SO gonna sue you and this hospital. Why are you wearing that dress?”

The nurse’s face turned stoic while her eyes began to glow in a bright honey color. “I am Aletheia, the goddess of truth. I caught you in deceit; you have disrespected me. YOU WILL OWN YOUR TRUTH OR FACE MY WRATH!,” her voice boomed like an airplane taking off towards the end.

Margo cowered, utterly speechless.

The goddess waited for Mrs. Dalton to speak. When no woman said anything, Aletheia shimmered away, and time resumed.

“Well?,” demanded her husband.

The patient hesitated. What had happened? Ted looked impatient. “Why did you lie?”

When she finally answered, still unsure if she hallucinated the nurse, her voice was small and broken: “I didn’t.”

“You have chosen my wrath” came a bodiless voice.

In an instant, her mouth moved by itself. “No. I did lie.” The words spilled without her choice. “I don’t want another child. Stella should be my only one.” The words won’t stop. Her husband looked on in shock.

Margo Dalton’s secrets continued to reveal themselves without her permission. “Let me tell you what I told Dr. Foreman, who I asked to lie on my behalf. ‘In a few years, we'll give up. Stop trying to get pregnant. We'll hug, cry. Eventually Ted will stop thinking about it, and he'll appreciate Stella even more. And we'll live happily together for the next 50 years.’”

Her husband looked hurt. His eyes were watering. She didn’t stop, as much as she wanted to. “I care more about my daughter than you. She is not yours, but I want you to want only her instead of wanting a child with me. I also consider my first husband to be better at sex than you... I regret telling you this, but I didn’t regret my lies earlier.”

Ted was definitely crying now. He ran out of the room without another word. Dr. Foreman couldn’t believe what he witnessed. If House were here, he might have considered the spill of honesty a symptom from some condition.

“I don’t like you.” Margo was addressing Eric now. “You seem like the doctor who gets smug about all of their ideas. If the ideas turn out wrong, then you would act like you knew they wouldn’t work and insist you will always be correct. I was so sure you could keep my secret. And I,” she was crying too, “I cannot stop my words. Please make it stop.”

The voice of the truth goddess spoke again: “I warned you of my wrath. You did not heed it. Your punishment is to only tell the truth for the rest of your life.” Dr. Foreman left to get a nurse.

* * *

Her husband will end up divorcing her. Her child grew to resent her after years of verbal abuse due to the endless harsh truths. Margo couldn’t keep friends for very long. Foreman shared her story with his colleagues and House was curious how the inability to lie was brought on. And Margo will regret her deceit for the rest of her life.


	2. Lying Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on Brave Heart (S6E6).
> 
> The story takes place before they discover the condition.
> 
> *Warning: death of a child

They still don’t know what it is.

Cheryl was advised to tell her ex, the detective Donny Compson, the patient, that he is a father, something he never wanted to be. It was advised because the patient’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather died the same way. 

Chances of her son, Michael, inheriting the condition were highly probable. So she told Donny and as expected, he wasn’t too thrilled about being a father.

A nurse was about to enter the room as she exited, but then the other woman stopped in her tracks and turned around.

“You deceived them.” Cheryl kept walking until the speaker repeated their words. “Cheryl, you deceived them.”

“Oh, hello. Um, are you- how did you know my name?,” asked the mother. 

The nurse looked pissed off. “You came here so you can save your son. You did not come for your ex.” 

“How did you know my name? Wait...did you just accuse me of lying? No, that’s not true. I didn’t lie and I am here to see Donny get better. Besides, why is it your business what I do?”

“You lied. If you claim to be here for your ex, then would you show up if you never had a son?”

Cheryl hesitated.

“You. Deceived. Them,” the nurse emphasized her words with disgust on her tongue. She looked ready to spit on her, that’s how pissed off she seemed.

“I should go.” The ex hurried away. She could hear the nurse continue her rant of disgust, but she kept walking away.

* * *

Cheryl returned to check on Donny’s status. No improvement. Although, that nurse was at his side, checking his measurements.

The nurse, Alicia, according to her name tag, looked up and instantly asked the other woman a question. “Hypothetically, if you were given a cure to save one person, who would you choose to die? Your ex? Or your son?”

The mother’s gaze fell from Donny as she stared in shock at the nurse. “What kind of a question is that?”

“Save your ex, then your son dies. Save your son, your ex and potential grandchild die. Either way, you must tell the truth about your choice.”

“My grandchild? My son is too young to be a father. What’s the point of your question? My son could have inherited something that might end up being treatable. Why don’t you focus on _that_?”

“Hypothetically, if your son lives long enough to have a child of his own, they too could inherit the condition. Do you know who you would sacrifice so the other could be cured?”

Cheryl possessed a quick wit. She knows where to find loopholes. That’s why she decided to humor the nurse. Then perhaps she can return to doing her job. She answered with: “I choose my grandchild.” She figures she could find a loophole and keep both her ex and their son. She might never be a grandmother. Who knows what the future holds?

“Very well. Be sure to tell the truth or face the consequences.” With her odd curiosity satisfied, Alicia finished her tasks and calmly left the room. 

Within the hour, her son collapsed all of a sudden. The doctors tried, but he died as soon as he fell to the ground. After getting permission to do an autopsy, they discovered the cause of death to be a brain aneurysm.

To say the doctors were confused by the sudden random death of a child by aneurysm was putting it mildly. They assumed, finding no other abnormalities, that the cause of the mysterious death in the family tree is an inheritable brain aneurysm. 

That idea changed when surgeons cut in Donny’s head, but found no aneurysm. Thus, they assumed they were wrong and went back to the drawing board. Three more days of tests with no diagnosis; the hospital discharged Donny with no explanation to his ailments.

* * *

Cheryl witnessed the death of her child. Alicia walked by the room when the ex-girlfriend heard about the discharge. The mother didn’t wait. She made a grab for the nurse’s arm.

“You did it, didn’t you? You killed my son!”

Alicia stayed calm. “You chose to sacrifice your son so your ex can be cured.”

“I didn’t pick my son. I remember choosing my grandchild! Not my son!” 

“Your choices were your ex or your son. No third option. By choosing to eliminate your grandchild, you choose to kill off their father, your son. You made your choice, now tell your ex you cured him.”

“No. I will not. I was the one who kept our son secret because I wanted a child. He didn’t. I can’t just tell him he fathered my boy then tell him that my choice ended up killing him while leaving Donny with no diagnosis. Telling the truth helps no one!”

“Neither does lying. You must learn how omitting the truth has consequences, it’s much like lying. Now prepare to suffer the consequences.”

“And what would that be?,” Cheryl asked while she crossed her arms in a challenge. She was preparing to sue the nurse for somehow killing her son, altering tests, and wanted to hear a threat to have reason to have Alicia fired. 

What she didn’t expect was the nurse to shimmer. Her nurse scrubs changed into a green dress, ornate jewelry on her forearms, her dress and hair flowing despite the lack of wind, and her eyes...they glowed.

Alicia’s next words tripled in volume. “To only tell lies. No one will hear honest words from your tongue for as long as you live. You have angered Aletheia, goddess of truth.” 

As soon as the last word slipped through her lips, the mysterious woman shimmered away. Cheryl stood still. Her jaw hit the floor. Did she really see that?

She was about to apologize to the air and keep a promise to tell the truth, really she was, but she couldn’t resist searching for yet another loophole in case what she saw was real. She figured that she could tell white lies, half-truths, or speak the opposite of what she intends to say, so what comes out would be truth.

* * *

It didn’t take long before she realized that the goddess was indeed real. When her ex said he missed her, she replied with “I missed you too.” She didn’t mean it though. Her supposed loopholes were just a fantasy. No white lies came up. Half-truths were too rare for her benefit. And whatever words spilled out weren’t the opposite of her intended response.

Donny will have lived well past the age of 40. He was truly cured of his ailment. He lived on to believe he had beaten whatever cursed his family. However, his opinion about starting a family never changed.

The mother stopped looking for loopholes. She managed to keep a long-term relationship with a gullible man, but her heart never stopped grieving her son. She doesn’t know if she wants anymore children. She would everyday wish she learned her lesson a long time ago.


End file.
